Thursday, September 03, 2009

Polls say older people don't want the current health care reform. Baloney -- certainly not all of us. Take a look at these folks who were some of the anchors of yesterday's broad coalition rally for reform in San Francisco.

They know: Without health care reform, slashing Medicare benefits will be Congress’s next step.

This woman's signs ask that Congress protect Medicare AND allow states the chance to try health care reform experiments. That's not surprising in San Francisco. A municipal public health plan (limited to the city) has managed to cover nearly everyone and 94 percent of recipients like it! Meanwhile, the state legislature has voted for a statewide single payer system twice, only to have it vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

Not all elders are part of the opposition to affordable, efficient health care for all. We know that even continuing Medicare depends on it.

4 comments:

Thank you for lifting my spirits and putting a face on healthcare reform. I was almost at the point of actually believing what the media reports! I have smacked myself and feel much better now that I have read your blog. Ronni suggested it would heal my reform woes..and it did. Nice job!

Thanks for keeping us informed about elders and health care -- I no longer feel alone. As a former medical practice management consultant, I know first hand how the insurance companies make it their business to deny legitimate claims; how onerous their paperwork is for the Doctors--designed once again to make it extremely difficult to complete it properly. The Big Pharma are no better, and want to keep us medicated with drugs that have side effects that create the need for more drugs. Our system isn't just broken; it's corrupt to the core.

What's this blog about?

My musings on current events, current projects, current anxieties and current delights.

I started this under the Bush regime when any grain of sand thrown into the gears of the over-reaching imperial state seemed worthwhile.

I have worked to elect more and better Democrats -- and to hammer the shit out of them once we get them in office so they do the things their constituents want and need. It's a big job.

I have endured the dashed potential for a more transformational regime under Obama. The man has made himself an accomplice in the imperial crimes of his predecessor as well as committing his own. He has also almost certainly been the most progressive president most of us will live to see. I fear we'll look back on his years in office with mild gratitude for a respite from national leadership that was habitually stupid and vicious, as well as wrong.

Visitors here will find a lot of commentary on books I'm reading. I am very intentionally reading intensively offline these days. When it feels hard to find direction, it's time to learn something new.

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About Me

I'm a progressive political activist who runs trails and climbs mountains whenever any are available. I've had the privilege to work for justice in Central America (Nicaragua and El Salvador), in South Africa, in the fields of California with the United Farmworkers Union, and in the cities and schools of my own country. I'm a Christian of the Episcopalian flavor; we think and argue a lot. For work, I've done a bit of it all: run an old fashioned switch-board; remodeled buildings and poured concrete; edited and published periodicals, reports and books; and organized for electoral campaigns. I am currently an independent consultant to organizations seeking "help when you have to make a fight."